


Drink The Water

by Seistira



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Love, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 14:05:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8492644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seistira/pseuds/Seistira
Summary: “I can’t do nice things just because I love you? I can’t burn a few candles without needing to cover something up? And here you had me believing chivalry wasn’t dead yet.”“It’s not.” Arthur noted, taking a bit of his food and humming thoughtfully, small smile touching his face. “I brought you flowers, after all.”“For no reason at all?” Merlin prodded in turn, his own bite halfway to his mouth.“I love you too.”





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hisa_Ai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hisa_Ai/gifts).



> So I'm not much of a fic writer, I don't do this very often. But today is my best friend's birthday and I wanted to give her something special and in style of something she's so phenomenal of doing herself!! So here's a little somethin' somethin' just for you, [Kate](http://therealpendragon.tumblr.com/)!! I hope you have a wonderful birthday today! c:

“Merlin!”

The exclamation that pulled the man’s concentration from the task at hand was both one of awe and suspicion wrapped beautifully into one. Of course, Merlin hadn’t expected anything less from the other—he’d tidied up the flat they shared together with the intent of throwing the other off and keeping him in suspense of the night to come. It was all part of _The Plan_ , after all.

“In here!” He finally called back to the blond, swearing quietly a moment later under his breath as he remembered belatedly to flip the pancake. But it was only a little burnt on the other side and he could easily claim that less-than-perfect one for himself. He glanced up as he heard movement in the kitchen, catching Arthur’s perplexed look with a wide grin. Really, his amusement could only grow at the speculative glance the other shot at the pancakes, the state of their kitchen—which was as clean as the day they’d moved into their home, and _Gods_ , not to mention the state of their sink. Not a dish in sight save the ones Merlin was working with and suddenly Arthur was on high alert for **The Worst News Ever**.

Merlin bit back a laugh as he removed the frying pan from the stove, relishing in the way that the other closed the space between them with just a few steps and a hand to his hip, lips brushing against his cheek a moment later. “What did you do?” The words were almost lost, they were so softly spoken, tickling Merlin’s cheek and encouraging him to lean back just the slightest bit further into the other.

“What do you mean?” He finally brought himself to answer, peeking open eyes he hadn’t even realized had shut of their own accord as he set toward the task of readying their plates, turning off the oven as he did so.

But Arthur wasn’t having it, both hands settling over Merlin’s waist more fully even as he pulled his head back, allowing the other to finish setting up. “You know what I mean. This. The house, the pancakes, candles. There are _candles_ , Merlin! All in the living room like we’re set up for some romantic getaway and I know it’s not our anniversary. Unless you’ve forgotten the date again…” Merlin snorted at the mulling tone and Arthur’s fingers tightened. “You did, didn’t you?”

“Of course I didn’t! It’s not our anniversary.” Merlin assured, grinning again as he turned, shoving a plate of pancakes into Arthur’s chest for him to take. “And that was _one_ _time_. I had a good reason for forgetting, you agreed with me, so you’re not supposed to use it against me, yeah?” He promptly grabbed his own plate, not leaving any room for discussion as he turned toward the dining room, expecting the other to follow.

There was oddly no comeback for that, though Merlin could feel the snicker of amusement even if the blond was holding it in for whatever reason. He dismissed the oddity of that, turned the corner, and stopped dead at the sight that greeted him from the dining room table.

“...What? What is this?”

He’d left the table mostly clear, save the silverware, pancake accessories (syrup and butter), waters, and a candle he’d set at the center of it all but _now_ his centerpiece was replaced with a beautiful vase and flowers towering precariously from it’s top. Merlin cautiously set his pancakes down as Arthur took the seat next to his own, hardly paying the new fixture that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere any mind.

“What, this old thing?” He acknowledged the mixture of roses, lilies, and tulips with a casual thumb. “I picked it up on the way home. Thought our dreary looking flat could do with a bit of color.”

“It’s not our anniversary.” Merlin shot back, feeling far more cautious and wary than before.

“No, it’s not.” Arthur agreed, tucking himself into the table with the broadest _I Know Something You Don’t Know_ grin that Merlin had ever seen. “Which is a shame, because this **Not** -Anniversary is by the far the _best_ anniversary we’ve ever had.”

Merlin narrowed his eyes at that, grabbing for the butter and lobbing a large amount at his pancake. “Right, so, what did you do?”

“You’re not even _denying_ this is our best anniversary!” Arthur laughed in turn, pointing his fork at Merlin. “Oh, no you don’t. I asked you first. The pancakes—the candles. What is this for?” He leaned forward expectantly. He hadn’t even touched his pancakes yet, Merlin noted sourly, and despite his disparity that _The Plan_ was quickly getting shoved down the garbage disposal with Arthur’s _Secret Counter Plan_ and all around prattishness—(yes, it was a word, Merlin had to win at **something** here)—he couldn’t help but feel amused and touched at whatever had possessed Arthur to buy him flowers.

Still, he wasn’t going to win this one. He wasn’t.

“It’s not our anniversary.” Merlin finally managed to snap, eyes dashing away to concentrate on the very important task of drizzling syrup on his pancakes. “I can’t do nice things just because I love you? I can’t burn a few candles without needing to cover something up? And here you had me believing chivalry wasn’t dead yet.”

“It’s not.” Arthur noted, taking a bit of his food and humming thoughtfully, small smile touching his face. “I brought you flowers, after all.”

“For no reason at all?” Merlin prodded in turn, his own bite halfway to his mouth.

“I love you too.” Arthur added simply, setting his fork down and reaching over to touch Merlin’s hand, fingers brushing over the backs of his knuckles tenderly. And Gods, Merlin knew that the other was still up to something, but he leaned forward regardless, the other meeting him easily enough for a proper kiss they’d yet to share since coming home.

It was subtle and sweet—maybe helped a bit by Merlin’s enthusiasm for syrup on his pancake, but it helped soothe his nerves as he turned his hand over, accepting the touch of Arthur’s fingers as he started to pull back…

...and something small, solid, and warm transferred from Arthur’s hand to his own. Confusion bloomed in him as they both pulled back, Merlin’s eyes darting down to the object Arthur had carefully left behind and…

... _oh_.

Oh **_no_**.

Merlin stared, horrified at the ring he’d been given, at the way Arthur looked nervously to him before edging off the seat as though to drop to one knee—at the flowers and **non** -occasion and the _I Know Something You Don’t Know_ grin from before and oh fuck, Arthur was _proposing_ …

“Wait!” Merlin yelled, startling Arthur from sliding entirely off the chair. He stood up, grabbed for the glass of water he’d set on the table prior to making their food and shoved it at a perplexed Arthur. “Drink this—please, just…”

He didn’t miss the look of devastating hurt that flitted across his expression before he brought it under control long enough to look down at his glass…

Merlin waited. Arthur’s face scrunched into a contorted mess of befuddlement and Merlin thought he could almost see the wheels turning in his head at the implication of what sat at the bottom of his water glass. And it was waterproof, Merlin had made _sure_ of that before he’d bought it earlier that day.

“You…” Arthur started, still struggling to catch up to the moment.

“Arthur, will you—”

“—no, will _you_ —!”

“—marry me?” They both finished, staring plaintively at the other.

There was a long moment, a very still moment where neither said anything.

“You were supposed to drink the water.” Merlin finally broke the silence, gesturing to his very secondhand proposal attempt, but really, what was he _supposed_ to come up with at the last minute, really? He hadn't given himself more than a day's notice to figure this out, after all.

Arthur pointedly looked to the ring still sitting in Merlin’s hand, nodding to it after a moment as though the other would have no clue what he was getting after here. “You can lead a horse to water, Merlin, but you can’t expect it to drink it. Besides, I asked you first.”

“I was **ready** first!” Merlin protested, leaning over the table even more towards Arthur. “That water was sitting on the table before you even _got_ here.”

“Who proposes in a glass of water, anyway?”

“We only talked about marriage just last night, it’s not a lot of time to prepare, you know.”

“That’s because no one proposes the night after their first conversation about what it would be like to get married, Merlin. _No one_.” Arthur emphasized, digging his fingers into his water and sighing with annoyance as the volume of his hand caused the water to dribble over the top.

“You’re supposed to _drink_ it.” Merlin repeated, grinning as Arthur tried dipping his fingers in the water, reaching for the ring again.

“I think, Merlin Emrys, that this is a sign you need to accept _my_ marriage proposal since mine has actually proven to be more accessible. Do you accept?” Arthur shook his hand of water droplets before pulling his chair closer to Merlin’s and dropping his words to a softer, more serious tone. “Will you marry me?” He pulled Merlin’s hands into his own, eyes searching, desperate and hopeless and full of love, “Please?”

And Merlin wanted to say no, just for the sake of it, for the _principle_ of it and the fact that he was almost positive he’d thought to ask first. It had only been a night since they’d talked about it and yet somehow Merlin had **known** that the other would beat him to the punch. How had he known to propose so soon after discussing the possibility of marriage with Merlin?

But as much as he wanted to be stubborn, he couldn’t put that devastated look back on his boyfriend’s face—his soon to be _fiance’s_ face. Merlin turned over his hands in Arthur’s own, revealing the gorgeous ring Arthur had somehow procured in less than twenty-four hours. “I will, yes. Of course I will! But only if you drink the water first so you can wear my ring too. You will wear it, won’t you? You’ll marry me too?”

Arthur’s grin was a blur that he caught only a second before lips were covering his own, relief filling Merlin instantly that he hadn’t even thought he’d needed to feel, because how could he have _doubted_ that Arthur would say say yes in the first place? His hands moved to reel the other’s face even closer to his own, smushing their faces together while keeping the ring balanced between his fingers.

The kiss was followed by another, and another, and _another_ shorter peck until Merlin finally pulled back, looking to Arthur expectantly. “So?”

Arthur leaned in for one more, just for good measure, lips dragging in an agonizingly gentle manner along Merlin’s lower lip before allowing them to separate again. “If you’ve agreed to marry me, obviously that means I’d have to marry you too.”

Merlin wrinkled his nose at the other roundabout answer... because of _course_ Arthur couldn't just say yes. 

“Shut up and drink the water. And kiss me again.”

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this fic also happens to be a song by Buckcherry that I thought of only after writing this. But let me assure you, that is ALL the song and fic have in common.


End file.
